The South Dublin shopping centre was sold by Nama for €250 million to US private equity buyers Oaktree Capital Partners, the only retail asset to break the €100 million mark during that year.

A new investment report by real estate company Savills shows that The Square’s purchase made up 90% in value of shopping centre deals for 2017. It was followed by 100-101 Grafton Street bought by Irish Life for €50.1 million and M&S Merchants Quay Cork, bought for €31 million by the German fund Real I.S.

Retail Units

The Square opened in 1990 and was put on the market last August. It hosts a range of over 100 retail units, including Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Boots, Dealz and Freshly Chopped.

The investment giant Oaktree has previously taken over a large amount of properties around Ireland from Nama in the aftermath of the crash.

Overall, commercial property spending climbed to 30% above the 15-year average in the country during 2017, with a total of €2.28 billion spent on commercial property.

While this is a marked slowdown compared to 2016, that year was boosted by the colossal sales of Blanchardstown and Liffey Valley shopping centres, fuelling turnover to some €4.5 billion at the time.

Sales from outside the capital increased to 18.4%, up from 14.2% in 2016. Cork made up 8.2% of all sales in 2017 in terms of value, largely due to the large purchases by German fund Real I.S., which included M&S on Merchant’s Quay and the €45.5 million purchase of the Capitol Building on Patrick Street.